


The warmth of darkness

by greenocha



Category: Fate/Grand Order, Fate/Prototype: Fragments of Sky Silver
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-31
Updated: 2020-02-03
Packaged: 2021-02-25 10:40:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22494739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greenocha/pseuds/greenocha
Summary: The goddess of the underworld hates being alone so when that man came and saved her, she followed him. Only to discover the mortal realm is so much darker than the underworld.
Relationships: Arthur Alter | Saber/Ereshkigal | Lancer
Comments: 1
Kudos: 10





	1. The said beginning

**Author's Note:**

> This story will explore a lot of things that may be sensitive to a lot of people, it will be heavily coated with strong plot. I suggest you to read each hints carefully so you won't get lost. There will be a few guest characters outside fate series whose name will remain unknown. Please proceed with full caution.

When Ereshkigal saw her savior there, it was no sight of a prince or a knight in shining armor. Instead, it was the sight of a man with black crimson stained armor and the black corrupted sword that he held with his hand. Their eyes were connected at that time, staring at each other for god knows how long until the man took a step closer and said with his husky voice,

" **So, you must be that goddess.** "

Ereshkigal did not recognize the irregular beat of her heart. At that moment also, she hold her breath too deeply that she thought she might have actually died. But she didn't and it was real. The man who saved her is standing right in front of her. 

Then he kneeled on like a gentlemen, except that he didn't have any smile nor he showed any signs of courtesy. 

"Such a fragile flower. I am surprised they hide such a great beauty like you in this hideous cave."

"Who are you...?" 

It's been such a long time since Ereshkigal talked with someone and her voice came out a little quieter than she expected. The man smirk and his glowing yellow eyes are now turning into blazing golden. 

"I've come here to claim what is mine."

Just like the old tale surrounding the cave, whoever managed to slay the giant beast that guarded the cave will be rewarded with a prize that can't be measured by anything else in the world and that prize... is none other than the sleeping goddess who had been trapped there by a curse of her own sister. 

Ereshkigal did not understand but since he saved her from the eternal slumber, she gave in to all of his requests. He would love her to be his company while he hunted down another beast that poses extreme threat to him, maybe he can also use her as a good luck charm because she is still a goddess after all. 

They spent their times together, traveling all over the world while constantly tearing down opponents mercilessly. The dark king is lusting for killing and Ereshkigal, who is actually the goddess of death itself is feeling an odd remorse whenever she saw him killing someone else. She felt uncomfortable so she tried to talk it out to him.

Yet, of course, without hesitation, the dark king's path headed only towards killing the six beasts that has been lurking around the town for a few years. He never rest on his journey but he did took some rest now and then to let Ereshkigal breathe relief for a while and enjoy everything else around them. 

Ereshkigal loved the human world, it's more colorful. Her home in the underworld is dark and she doesn't have anyone there, always been lonely since she was born into the world. Carrying the title of the goddess of death, Ereshkigal is never aware of the feeling...

Only creatures in the mortal realms knows.

Genuine love.

"Arthur... I can't sleep..." 

It was during one of those days Ereshkigal will come to Arthur's room. She did not knock on the door first since she knew that he hated noises that doesn't have any significant meaning. The dark king was not asleep, as expected, he was sitting silently on his bed while cleaning his sword with a cloth. 

"Sleep at my bed and don't be noisy."

"I will." She nodded, closing the door behind her and hurriedly walked into the bed. "Arthur, can we skip your mission for tomorrow?"

"The faster the better." He turned on his yellow eyes to her, making her to shiver in fear. 

"B-but..."

"Speak clearly."

"I wanted to go to this market. I've heard from the innkeeper that they are going to hold a festival tomorrow." She managed to let the words out without stuttering.

"It's troublesome." He clicked on his tongue, batting his gaze away and put his sword gently on the bed. 

"Ah... Okay. I'm sorry." Ereshkigal hung her head low and climbed on to the bed. She wrapped herself with a blanket and finally lays herself into the mattress. "Good night, Arthur."

"Hmm." He only hummed in response and this does hurts Ereshkigal a little bit. But again, knowing that the dark king is a cold and merciless king to begin with, what does she actually expect from him?

The realm of dream is slowly enveloping Ereshkigal as she finally fell asleep peacefully. Arthur looked at her sleeping figure. She seemed to be unwell and uncomfortable. 

"Tsk. You're so troublesome."

But again, the prize that he got is the only thing that he doesn't want to lose. She changed his whole life for the better. Whereas previously he was only shrouded in bitter revenge and killing intentions. He was a cold blood dark king that will cut everyone in a half once they do not obey his words. 

She is the only exception. Truly, the only exception. She did raise her voice from times to times but he never got angry with it. Instead, he feel the weird feeling of guilty every time she raised her voice to him because it is as if it was his fault for making her upset. 

Arthur let a deep sigh escaped from his lips. Laying down on the bed beside her, he saw her curling up her body uncomfortably. His gaze softens at the sight. She musn't be uncomfortable— he thought. So he wrapped his arms around her figure and bring her closer to his chest. 

"You're so cold."

But with the warmth of his body, Ereshkigal's frown slowly curled upward. She snuggled closer into his body and giggled on her sleep. Arthur can feel his cheeks becoming warmer than his entire body. 

~*~

The morning is quite beautiful at the town. The children's voices are echoing throughout the area and the birdsong were already singing since the spring is coming to the town much earlier. 

It is not exactly a grand town either, located just in the border of a country, the town is still very much developing itself to catch up with the rest of the world. While we can say that the modern world is a corrupted ones, at least it is better than the ancient times where everything will be solved through war and bloosheds. 

A bird landed on the window, knocking it lightly with its beak. Maybe it is the telling the couple inside to just get up already. 

Ereshkigal woke up with her face fully covered in red and she tried to get out from his grip but to not avail since he was much stronger than her. She tried every method of kicking his legs and shove his arms away but of course, he still didn't bulge. 

"Arthur... Wake up." She brought her face close to his and whispered slowly, even though, yes, her heart is beating like crazy by doing it!

"You're noisy. Let me sleep for a little bit." He opened his eyes in half and then closes it again. 

"But... The faster the better, right?" She tried to copy him and the male grew silence because of that. Ereshkigal could only let a tear slide down from her eyes as the embarrassment is filling her whole being now. She can explode in any seconds, her thought is just filled with her wishing that he will reply.

"Don't repeat me." He fluttered his eyes open, revealing the blazing golden ones. The goddess quickly bury her face into his chest to avoid his eyes. 

"I'm sorry..." She murmured softly.

"It's fine." He finally removed his hands from all around her and sit up on the bed. "What time is it? Afternoon already?" He brushed his hair back.

"It is still in the morning." She quickly get up from the bed, not wanting for the man to see her red face. 

"I normally hate it when people wake me up." He clicked on his tongue before continuing, "Get dressed with your cloak, we're going to the border."

"Border? Umm..." Ereshkigal wondered a little since her memories of geographical information is poor compared to Arthur who lived long enough on the continent that he may memorized each precise locations perfectly. 

"Just follow me and don't stray off. I don't care if you don't know the location or not." Ereshkigal is not sure if she should be happy or sad about it because he obviously saw past her that she actually didn't know anything about the modern world. 

Yet no matter, she will go with him even if she likes it or not because she truly owed him her entire life. Ever since that day she got out from the cave and saw the outside world, she cried. The fresh air, the clear sky and the sun... How long since she saw them. 

How long it is since her last stand on the surface of the earth? The gods of Mesopotamia locked her deep in the cave and sent a great beast to guard it, killing anyone who dared to step their feet into the cave and freed the goddess from the burning chains that keep her sleeping for thousands of years. 

"Why did you want to kill all the six beasts?" Ereshkigal asked out aloud but she soon covered her mouth in panic as she realized that she had let the questions out from her mouth. "I'm s-so sor—"

"Save it." The dark king finally went up from the bed and walked right into the direction where Ereshkigal stood. He stopped right as his body almost collided with her back. "Why do you want to know the reason?"

"It must be a great burden for you to kill all of them alone." She clasped her hands nervously and nodded. 

"Ereshkigal."

Ereshkigal— ah yes, that was the first time he called out for her name. His voice, unlike many occasions where he is mainly annoyed at her, is now gentler and coated with sadness. 

"There is no real reason why I wanted to kill them. I just like hunting down beasts as I hate blending with the modern society. One of the government ever offered me to be their assassin but I turned them down because the enemy is too boring." 

Ereshkigal expected a serious response but all she got was his complaints of the modern world. She mentally slapped herself, _what exactly did you expect from him?!_ — she thought. 

"Is that so? Ah, I really thought maybe you have a serious matter about it."

"You are a goddess, you didn't know anything about the six beasts?" He put his hands on his hip while leaning his face closer to her level. 

"Ah no! That's not what I meant!" She said in a hurry. "I'm not aware of the condition of the mortal realm. No one informed me about it. As I grow up in the pit of darkness, the only lights that shine brightly is the blue fire and the soul birds that keep me company."

"We are similar." 

The dark king then left her side and Ereshkigal turned her body finally to see him picking up his sword which is now shrouded in a dark magical energy. 

"Betrayed by the whole world, but even so we still choose to protect things that we dearly loved."

"Someone you loved...?" Her crimson eyes widened in shock.

"No. I don't care about it anymore." The dark magical energy surrounding the sword gradually disappears and the sword dematerialized into black dust. 

"Arthur, don't say that." She whispered, softly with her voice now breaking into the sound of a sorrow-filled maiden. 

"You've spent your days sleeping on that cave for thousands years. What did you know about love?" He bitterly snapped yet his eyes did not raise from the ground and he only balled his fists tightly. 

"Ever since I was born, I was cast out to the underworld. Unlike my sister who received all the love from the gods, I was hated by everyone. They said that if they saw me, it will turn into a curse and they will never feel joy again." 

"Stupid." Arthur scoffed, pulling the side of his lips and raised his gaze up forward again. "Everyone is just too stupid. I hate it."

"But even so... I do not want anyone to suffer the same as I am. These torturing aches that I always feel as I lay down on the underworld all alone, only accompanied by the giant shadow of the underworld."

The goddess of the underworld ended up talking too much. She, with a heavy breath released, finally tried to pull up a smile. Even though it hurts, she tried.

"Stop it. You're faking yourself."

The dark king hated it, the hypocritical people who always smile to hide their pain. Because before falling into the darkness and held a great hatred for the whole humanity, Arthur was once, the king who always tried his pain by reassuring everyone that everything is going to be okay as long as they believe in it. 

Yet when that wretched homunculus ruined everything that he had been building for so long, he lost everything. The remnants of memories that he shared together with his knights vanished just like a gentle wind in the heavy storm. Because of that, he threw away all of his human traits and swore to the world that he will no longer side with the humanity nor the gods. 

It will slowly kill her inside, and he did not want it to happen. He walked right in front of her and grabbed her hand forcefully. His golden eyes are now burning intensely. 

"Quit it. Let's just go." 

The goddess silently nod her head. She grabbed her cloak and put it on while Arthur did not hide his original clothes with his armor or anything else. Since it also has a skirt and a pant underneath, he discarded the skirt part of his outfit by cutting them off since he was annoyed by people telling him that his dress looked a little too feminine. 

"Yes, of course!" She wiped the tears that didn't fall, fortunately. 

"When going to the festival, don't speak when I didn't tell you to."

"Yes." She looked down sadly.

"But use this as you see fit." He threw a leather wallet right into her face and she managed to catch it in time. She observed it and thought it was strange. 

"But... This is your money."

"I don't care."

"Y-you should care! this is for your survival as we—"

"Your survival." He corrected it as he cut off her words. 

"What...?" She did not expect anything from him but she's always taken aback by his unexpected response and actions. 

"I do not need money for survival. Unlike normal humans and goddess, I can stay up to a year without foods or drinks. My existence in this world is vague."

She quickly shut her mouth and hold the wallet tightly into her chest. She can only reply with a, "Thank you." Her lips now curling into a smile.


	2. Before destiny

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur has lived long enough in the corrupted world. There is, obviously, a story before he met Ereshkigal. Though a certain someone is willing to tell the story of the world to Ereshkigal too.

The world is beautiful but corrupted just like the sword that Arthur possessed. The Excalibur that previously can conjured an extreme burst of golden energy into the air was no longer there, it is replaced by the black colored and crimson stained Excalibur which can conjured an extreme burst of dark powerful magical energy. When the dark magic devoured the lights, the Excalibur lost its seals and become so corrupted, it will become unbeatable to anything.

You can say the Arthur that already fell into the darkness is the stronger one than the original benevolent king we all know from bedtime stories. He stood at the top of the world while looking down at everything, his mind is shrouded only to focus in one goal.

When the mysterious assassin predicted his future through the purple orb she carried around, he saw clearly right before his eyes that a certain person will save him. He didn't know who was it, but he's sure that if that person ever came, he must have been involved in a great danger beforehand. 

Though, that is right. Two years before reaching into that cave and saving Ereshkigal, Arthur involved himself in a bloody battle against a martial artist that almost killed him. The Excalibur, the dark magical energy, all the power that Arthur held within himself proved to be nothing but a childlike toys to the martial artist. Stood at approximately ten inches taller than him, the martial artist is immune to all magical attacks and even break the sword into two pieces.

Suffering from such a heavy loss, Arthur has to live in a critical condition for six months. His body was tearing down and his sword was no longer fixable. He really thought that he will die at that time if it wasn't for him to be filled with such an extreme feeling of revenge. He revived himself by getting up and trained his physical condition again and again vigorously. 

He hated to lose again, he wanted to win. He must win. If a mere martial artist who is just a human can beat him to near death, then why can't he do the same to all the six beasts that he wanted to kill so badly? Whatever the costs that may take, Arthur pushed himself forward and proved himself to be really strong. 

He recovered and soon fixed his sword back into its original state by sacrificing the blood of himself. He managed to kill one of the beast and saved Ereshkigal from the cave. He is really convicted that the destiny he saw and the prize that he got— it's all fate that was set upon him. 

Ereshkigal is truly a healer for the dark king. 

"We must get something at the festival!" 

It was the busy, bustling atmosphere of the crowds. From the end of the road that is the entry for the market area, everyone from all directions greeted the sight of the leader who stood right at the moving parade. Ereshkigal did not know the person but she was awed at how many people are cheering for him at that moment. 

"A corrupted leader." Arthur closed his burning yellow eyes and earning Ereshkigal's confused stare. "We must get rid of him before he will get too ahead of himself."

"Arthur, how did you even know he's corrupted? He is the leader of this area, everyone loved their leader!" Ereshkigal was too innocent that Arthur chuckled and pulled up his signature lopsided smirk as a way to challenge her. 

"Try me, goddess. If he's truly evil, pay me with a kiss and if he's not, I will be your slave for the day."

"H-huhhh?!!!"

"The government of this country is corrupted. I encountered one of the victims of it." 

"Really...?" Ereshkigal whispered in disbelief. 

"Though that man really beat me up until death. Who knows that martial arts can be really dangerous." Arthur sneered, but it was strongly coated with mockery and anger. 

"As far as I know humans who master martial arts can counter the one who wields magical power even the gods. I know it doesn't seem possible but—"

"I ought to learn some martial arts then." Arthur finally find his solution. If he will encounter that man again, he must master in martial arts first. He didn't want to lose again, not to a random human who happens to be working for the government. Since Arthur is a threat, that man was sent to kill him.

Luckily, in the verge of his death, that man whispered that he does not wish to kill him and throw him off the cliff to disguise his death. Arthur can thank him later for not actually killing him but he must land an immensely powerful punch to that face first. The desire of revenge is building up so much in his body now. 

Once the crowd gradually disappear, Ereshkigal lead Arthur to the section of food where they were greeted by nothing but hundred of food stalls and cooking games. Arthur's eyes lit up and so did Ereshkigal but the dark king's hunger was interrupted when his gaze accidentally catch a shadow moving from the corner of his eyes. 

"Ereshkigal, I have to investigate something. You stay here, use the money as you see fit."

"Y-yes..." Ereshkigal was about to voice her protest but he immediately vanished into the crowds of people in the foods section. Her shoulders fell as she lost sight of him. The feeling of loneliness began to shroud her once more. "He didn't like to be here...?" 

She question his sudden departure so much, she didn't realize that she nearly tripped over something with her legs if it wasn't for the thing to bark loudly. 

"H-huh...?! A dog." She looked down to see a fluffy white dog barking at her, the dog constantly blinked its eyes. "Well, I bet you're hungry too. Let's get something to eat."

"Fresh raw milk especially for dog!" A woman shouted, earning Ereshkigal's total attention and she approach the seller there. A young woman with pink hear and strangely fox's ears. "Did you come here to try this milk for your dog? Aha! I just got a special for you, beautiful girl!"

"O-okay...?" The seller was acting a bit strange as she handed the milk too enthusiastically to her side. Ereshkigal accepting it with a confused smile and the dog all of a sudden grew quiet. 

"My business here is kinda dropping, you know? Ever since the tournament where every kinds of monster that humanity has finally launched into the surface, the world of magic is just a childlike dream. Even that man beat up the back of Wodime's magician heritage!" 

"What do you mean?" Now she is talking in a strange way making Ereshkigal to be even more puzzled. 

"You are not from around here, aren't you?" The pink haired young woman dropped the tray of milk into the table and approach Ereshkigal stiffly. 

"No. I travelled all accross the world with my... partner." She doesn't know how to address the dark king. They have been together for several months now and they also did share a bed some times but she's still not sure about their relationship other than being a partner of work. 

"Lucky you! Ever since the evil company took over the mage's association, everything went downhill for everyone who was born with magical circuits or at least people who were involved, in what they call the holy grail war."

"I've never heard of the evil company before." The goddess shakes her head. 

"Apparently, lots of civilians reported to the government about the holy grail war and the strange phenomenon taking place at major cities without any medias covering it. So when the news reached the government, they took fully actions and found out that the mage's association is responsible so they shut down the entire association and placed them under the watch of an evil company." Ereshkigal, though, began to develop a suspicion to the young woman. She was talking as if she was actually part of the mage's association and this will put her in danger if words reached to Arthur that she accidentally involved herself in something she didn't mean to. 

"I do not know anything about the holy Grail war either." Ereshkigal looked down. 

"By the by, if the mage's association failed to recover, there's a chance the world of magic will no longer exist and everyone who possessed magical circuits in their bodies will be cruelly executed for being wizards and witches of evil. Which is a bad thing because balance world is... the correct one, right?"

"I do agree." 

"Words do take it out far from here but I have never known you live to such an extend after encountering something even more terrifying than your magic." A deep voice echoed and the young woman immediately took a step back. Ereshkigal did not turn and froze instead. "Don't ruin my partner's mind by stating that irritating piece of mindset you develop just because you can't take your loses." 

"Y-you...!!" The seller gasped and she fell straight into the ground from the amount of dark intimidation looming over her whole being now. "How are you still alive?! That man should have killed you!"

"And so did that man killed you too. If it wasn't for him to spar our lives, we both may agree we already live in hell by now."

"Yeah..." 

"A-arthur." Ereshkigal was send into a state of panic, she opens her mouth to say something but—

"You're irritating me, Tamamo. You lost your divinity and your magic to a human. You have no right to inflict fear upon someone else." Arthur spat right at her face and she gritted her teeth through her partially opened mouth. 

"Said the one who kills everyone mercilessly if they stand on your way." She sneered back, finally standing up to her feet again. "You sweet little thing, this dark king didn't deserve to get such a lovely prize!" The woman, named Tamamo points her finger accusingly to the dark king. 

"Pull it off or I will cut it." Arthur's threat, though, managed to make Tamamo immediately retreated her finger back. 

"What is your name?" Tamamo asks, now lips filled with smile as she turned to Ereshkigal. 

"I-i'm Ereshkigal." Right as Ereshkigal reply, Tamamo moved her hand to grab her but Arthur was much swifter and he managed to hold Tamamo's hand before she could even touch Ereshkigal.

"Don't touch her." 

"Ah! You're so persistent as ever." Tamamo shoved his hand away and Arthur took this chance to grab Ereshkigal by hand and pulled her into his back where he safely protected the goddess from the now enraging woman. "I just want to talk to her!" 

"No, you can't. She's mine."

The poor goddess in the back could only watch the two bantering, meanwhile her entire body became so red she might have explode in any seconds. "Arthur, please don't hurt her." 

Arthur did stop and he looked back at her while his blazing golden eyes now softening up. He let out an irritated sight and pulled his hair back. Soon as he made an eye contact with Tamamo, he narrowed his eyes, "You heard her. Now, what business do you have with her that you lure her like this?" 

"I just wanted to give the free milk for her dog but I ended up spilling my complaints." 

"Dog...?" Arthur raised his brow then looked down slowly and a dog adorably wagged its tail while barking at him. "No, this is my dog."

"E-ehhh?! Since when did you have a dog, Arthur?" Ereshkigal swore that she never saw the dog before and she just happen to meet it when they are both lost in the crowd.

"I adopted the dog and commanded him to extract information from the government." Arthur kneeled down and stroke the fur lightly, then the dog out his paws on his opened palm and a letter started to materialize on his hand. 

"Now, a dog is used as a spy." Tamamo could only drop a sweat. 

"B-but how can a dog be so intelligent that it can extract information like that?" Ereshkigal's eyes were filled with sparkles as she just found a new discovery that made her so excited. 

"It will return to be a spy just as it is commanded." The dog nodded and run off somewhere else. 

"When it will return again?" Ereshkigal strongly wished Arthur will reply with—

"A year or even more. Depending on how shitty that government is."

"That's a really nice way to say to a woman." Tamamo popped a vein but she couldn't smack his head since he will pretty much go berserk if she does that. 

"I see..."

"Now, now, Ereshkigal! Don't be sad! I'm sure being with Arthur really drained all of your energy so I recommend you to—"

"Do shut up now, talking fox." Arthur really pointed his sword right at Tamamo's face and the latter immediately shut her mouth. 

"Arthur, please!"

"Well. It's better if you two just hurry and catch the fifth beast before she turns into a normal human again." Tamamo tried to lower down the sword with her hand. 

"The fifth beast is originally a human...?" 

"Yes, a damned human on the top of that." Arthur finally lowered down his sword just as Tamamo wished and she breathed out a huge sigh of relief. 

"I already made a special map for you two to locate all the remaining five beasts accross the world!" The pink haired young woman pulled out a map out of nowhere and give it to Ereshkigal. 

"Really? I don't care."

"At least show some gratitude." Tamamo let out a mocking laugh while smiling to Ereshkigal, somewhat painfully. 

"Thank you, Tamamo." Ereshkigal was the one who showed the gratitude as she hold the map tightly on her arms and bows down slightly. 

"See! See! Even a goddess of death is more well behaved than you!" Tamamo clapped her hands in awe.

"Wait... I didn't even tell you..."

"Ereshkigal, this woman is a fox. She knew everything just by one glance. That's why I don't recommend you being close to her for more than five minutes."

"Yes, I am a fox and my existence is threatened by the evil company. It is sad but I hope your partner can fix the issues soon!" 

"Will you, Arthur?" 

The dark king moved his gaze to her but right as his gaze land on her, his face quickly exploded in red and he covered his face with one hand. "I-idiot, don't say such a thing with such face."

"Eh? What did I do?" Ereshkigal's face grew red as well. Meanwhile Tamamo giggled in excitement as the couple seems to be really cute together. 

_Ohh... I wonder if Arthur will go berserk again... This woman, she's a good insurance—_ Tamamo thought.

~*~

"Ah I see. Just like everything I had predicted." The woman said while looking at sight reflecting from the purple orb she holds to her head level. 

"My Arthur will finally come to me! After being separated for so long..." 

"Worry not, Manaka. Your prince will be yours once again." The mysterious assassin said. 

"The purple orb you hold is truly a magnificent thing, indeed~" The blonde haired girl happily sang as she twirled her body around in joy. 

"Of course. This purple orb shall guide everyone who I deemed worthy to an unparalleled glory." However, a mysterious glint flashed in the mysterious assassin's eyes as she pulled her lips into a lopsided smirk. 


	3. Through the world's condition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur and Ereshkigal is sharing a sweet moment while Tamamo has to face the bitter truth of the world.

"Arthur, where exactly this map will lead us into?" Ereshkigal unraveled the map and my, she was so surprised to see the strange coordinates that she can't read properly because it is written in a language unknown to the goddess. 

"Oh?" Arthur peeked a little to the map and let out a low chuckle. "It is leading us straight into a country where they still hold traditional aspects. Be grateful that we don't deal with modern technology as it is troublesome to destroy them." 

"Which country is this one?" She pointed her fingers to the mountain symbol presented on the map. Arthur leaned closer to see but his eyes widened when something suddenly struck him. 

"Well, I guess I can say." The dark king pulled himself back. Ereshkigal followed his movement only to see his eyes now turning blazing golden. "Fuck."

"T-that is such a strong word!" 

"That government once locked me up inside of the basement and I met that assassin right there too. It's a fucked up country ruled by a merciless tyrant that only wants the doom for himself." 

"But it is the first location we need to visit to find the five remaining beasts." Ereshkigal tilted her head into the side to show her confusion of his statement. 

"I know. You don't have to tell me that." Arthur rolled his eyes. "Everything is just too troublesome, I hated it." 

"Yet you still do it." Ereshkigal folded the map again. "Maybe we can take some rest and gather information from people here?" 

"We will arrive in the border in no time. What plan did you propose?" 

"What if we camp here for a while and sneak out when the night approach? I don't like attracting too many attention if we attack so recklessly in the evening like this." Arthur did consider her words and grew silent for a few seconds before nodding his head. 

"A wise yet slow move. I will do as you wish then."

"T-thank you!" 

Hearing the goddess' wish, Arthur decided that they will camp for a few hours in a spot where it is exactly the blind spot of all the soldiers guarding the border. Ever since a plague threatens many lives in the country, people were restricted to flee away and they ended up isolating the innocent civilians to meet their deaths sooner. 

Arthur did heard some news that the international committee cursed this action that the country made but they can't do anything with it as it turns out that the country itself is involved in a great civil war. After the plague breaks out and killed millions, the leader thought that it is good for population control so he continued delaying searching for the cure to that plague. 

This anger everyone inside of the country that can't go anywhere and the war is inevitable. Heavy casualties to both sides, the corrupted government and the people who simply fought for their own freedom. All this mess, however, still continued on until the leader absolutely gone mad and decided to create a mass genocide on sixty areas of the country. 

Because of this, not only population control, but a mass slaughtering. Headless bodies piling up like mountains while some dying men who were desperate to flee could only crawl for a few inches away before the great explosion grill them up like a fresh raw meat. 

That also explain why there are only nobles and people from rich backgrounds that were celebrating the festival. Ereshkigal thought that the people were all riches in the festival and it is because of that, Arthur said that word. But truly, what really happened in the reality is so much worse than what Arthur has to remind her of. 

As the goddess finally slumped herself down to sit on the grass after the day of walking around, she picked up a random rock laying nearby and observed it carefully. "Even a rock is so strange here."

"Everything is weird here." Arthur immediately corrected as he sat down right beside her. 

"If we do wait for the time for a sneaky attack, we must get a clear sight of what area will we use." Ereshkigal said, while twirling the rock with her long slim fingers. 

"Yes. But unfortunately, I do not have a modern device to know what's inside. There will be more than twenty soldiers guarding up but as the night shift comes, the five soldier will take their rests and only one soldier is used as a substitute along with a dog."

"How did you know to such details?" 

"I knew this country better than everyone, I have travelled all around to organize a point plan." Ereshkigal can only let out a sigh at his statement. He's saying it with a serious face like that... 

"You don't need me to organize another plan if you already have one." She said, face now covered with confusion. 

"Ha... Do you think that plan will work if you're here with me?" 

"W-what do you mean?" Ereshkigal's mind are now surrounded by the thoughts that he viewed her as a burden—

"I hate to see you hurt. Moreover, I still can't grant your wishes. I do not plan on letting you die, not ever. Don't ever drag on me that you can do it just because you are the goddess of the underworld. That won't change thing, you're still vunerable." 

Even if Arthur said things like that for a hundred of times since they first met, Ereshkigal still can't control her bursting emotions. Never she felt so embarrassed and happy at the same time. All the times spent in loneliness back in the days of her reign in the underworld did pay off to this strange scene. 

"Arthur, you don't have to always protect me all the time." But Ereshkigal didn't like the fact that he will get hurt just to protect her. She cupped his face with both her hands and grinned widely. "I hate to see you hurt as well. You have treated me like I matter above anything else and I felt somehow burdened that I have to stand at the top of you. Let me walk down besides you, together..."

"Alright." Arthur closed his eyes, gently leaning into her feather-like touch of her smaller hands and peck it lightly. "But I won't guarantee I won't kill anyone who dared to lay their fingers upon one inch of your skin." 

"Of course." 

"I hate to say this to you but the mortal realm is so much darker than your original resident. We solved everything through violence and bloodshed. Kill or get killed. It's just the simple rules of survival that you need to know when ascending upon this Earth, this rotten, cursed and hideous earth." 

There was no longer hope in Arthur's eyes, just the despair and grief, sorrow and loss for his unfortunate life. At that time he marked on sacrificing his soul for the darkness, he painted right at his mind that if he ever encounter that wretched homunculus, along with his mother and his former wife, he would make them suffer the real hell that he has gone through.

"I have not lived long enough to see it all. I spent thousands years on that cave. But I do get the dream of the world plunging into unmeasurable chaos." 

Ereshkigal who was often portrayed to be the good and kinder one than her sister is no different than a normal human living in this corrupted world. Spending her days getting mocked and insulted that she didn't deserve a place in the entire world, she has raised herself to an extreme extend that she will endure going through hardships all alone. 

But it wasn't all that enough. She can endure being shrouded in dark magic and still can control it as her strength is notably featured to even surpass Gilgamesh in his most prime state yet when she was all alone and thorn, she will break down and fell. Just like a beautiful flower that withers after blooming beautifully, she too, can fall at any time. 

"Seems like we are both too similar to each other. We hate the world but still we don't have a choice but to live on it." Arthur fluttered his eyes closed, his lashes twinkling magnificently from the reflection of the sunset. 

Ereshkigal stands right up and let the warm transitioning spring breeze to caress her fair skin ever so gently. With a voice so soft, she says, "The world may be cruel for the both of us. But at least we are not alone now. We have each other and I think that's what matters the most."

"Of course, even Guinevere is just a dirt to your shining figure." The dark king opened his eyes once again and now they were only filled with warmth. He never felt such a positive feeling again ever since he lost everyone he dearly loved. Right as he mouthed those words, the sun sets gracefully on the west and the moon is slowly appearing from behind the clouds. 

"It's already nighttime." Ereshkigal dropped her smile and her expression hardened. 

"Yeah. Time for my Excalibur to finally eat again."

  
~*~

  
"Getting some fun now, aren't you, Tamamo?" Tamamo was packing up all of her belongings when the mysterious assassin approached her. With the purple orb that she held, Tamamo's yellow eyes burned in fury. 

"Why do you carry around such a cursed item?" Tamamo hissed at her. 

"I would ask the same to you."

"At least I don't intend on giving hopes to a little child who doesn't know anything about the power dwelling within her." Tamamo crossed her arms tightly around her chest, the side of her lips was pulled slightly. 

"Ah, no. It was unfortunate that I have to give her to hope. Don't blame me. I worked for someone else too. I can really say with all the holy grail war things going on, they accidentally awakened the devil that has been sleeping peacefully for thousand of years." The mysterious woman let out one sinister chuckle that made Tamamo to knit her eyebrows down. 

"There are some parts of the world that is left unknown for some people because the evil company is just too rich that they paid even the government not to talk about it. But ever since Manaka's awakening and that holy Excalibur destroyed a huge portion of a city in Japan... That could only mean..." 

"Of course. I was dispatched to fix the mess that both king arthurs from legend have created. The female one is weaker than I thought." The assassin finally bring up the purple orb to Tamamo's eye level. Then it reflected on a scene of a young woman wielding the holy sword and bursting the energy straight into the town. "If only Artoria Pendragon did know the consequences of her actions, her existence in the throne of heroes will still very much be safe."

"No! What do you mean?!" Tamamo, as if struck directly by an immensely powerful lightning, can only widen her eyes to maximum in horror. 

"That man erased the throne of heroes. He annihilated the world of magic once for all. The history, mythology and legend textbooks will be turned into empty pages. In order to make this world works in the same way as the reality supposed to be, one could say, he erased all the dreams that anyone have in this world."

"Then what will happen to Arthur and Ereshkigal?!" Tamamo summoned her mirror but the assassin gives off a light swing of her kick to forcefully throw the mirror out of their way. 

"You grown fond of her just from one meeting? You are, indeed, a woman with no choice. Don't worry about Arthur Pendragon, his existence was so corrupted now that his whole being existed only to fulfill what his original self cannot achieve. Unlike his female counterparts, the Excalibur that he possessed is really something not from this universe. But how strange it is for that martial artist to just break it into two." The assassin chuckled again, now irking Tamamo to her limits. 

"Why did it have to turned out like this..."

"Mage's association's fault actually. They continued on their pursue for the holy grail and ended up using illegal methods of summoning heroes from the past. I heard that man went into a really insane mode that the mage's association headquarters became one with the ground and no magicians survived from such an extreme blow. Even the strongest one is nothing but a dust and meats."

"Why are you telling me all this despite knowing I don't work for the same master as you are?" Tamamo tightened her fists and summoned her mirror again, this time it is ready to shoot the assassin with various unblockable magic. 

"Don't call me a servant or the one I served as master. Don't view me so lowly like those disgusting and rubbish heroic spirits or divine spirits or whatever the hell their names can be in which doesn't make any sense because they are just so surreal and fantastical." 

"Heh, you're just jealous because they are stronger than you." Tamamo sneered in amusement.

"Oh no, that's not what I intended. Those heroic spirits are disgusting because with their fantastical powers and rubbish appearances, they managed to trapped a lot of teenagers and even adult to get so obsessed with them, they would do anything as though they were even real. They are not and they will never be. They are just child dreams manifesting into human's favorite. My, that is really childlike. Now, I don't wonder why so many teenagers and adults were so easily killed. They lived in their delusional life."

"Tsk. You talk in such a complicated manner." 

"I always did. To make everyone confused. I don't want to spill the truth from the start. Won't it hurt to reveal everything in the earlier chapter?" 

Tamamo didn't say anything else, just standing there while her entire expression can be easily read that she's utterly lost to a topic that she didn't expect will come to the surface. 

"This purple orb too, shall devour everything I deemed as evil. So even if you tell me I am evil, I will not call myself evil. I saved the world from all those delusional teenagers that does nothing significant to their government or even their own neighborhood. Now, it's time for me to search for that man."

"You are insane."

" _ **But dear, the only thing that is sane in this world right now, is insanity itself.**_ "


End file.
